


Fremdschämen

by retrovertigo (ellameno)



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Newton Geiszler, Asexual Relationship, Characters Reading Fanfiction, Embarrassment, Hotels, M/M, Post-Canon, Queerplatonic Relationships, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-05-05
Packaged: 2018-03-29 04:01:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3881503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellameno/pseuds/retrovertigo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt and Hermann seem to be inseparable these days and unusually close. No one knows what happens between the scientists in those hotel rooms they always share, and the two intend to keep it that way. [Post Movie]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fremdschämen

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to all the cool people I met at Shatterdome Seattle. You guys rock and you were all so supportive. This one's for you.

        After a long hard day of lecturing, Newton Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb returned to their hotel room.

        “I can’t believe they only had one room left. And it’s only got one bed!” Newt groaned. He put his hands on his hips and inspected the room.

        “Yes, quite... unfortunate,” Hermann replied softly. “Or... Is it? I wonder.”

        “Huh?” Newt turned around.

        Hermann had removed his blazer and sweater and was now standing before Newt, shirt half unbuttoned. Hermann pushed him onto the king-sized bed authoritatively.

        “Doctor!” Newt gasped in surprise, “What are you--”

        “I’ve wanted this for a long time,” Hermann said lustfully.

        Newt melted at his touch. He too had been longing for his lab partner’s body. Years and years of being cooped up together in Hong Kong, gazing longingly at each other, but both thinking their feelings were unrequited. They’d head back to their separate rooms and fantasize about what they’d do to the other. If only.

        “Oh god, Hermann,” Newt cried out, “You planned this didn’t you.”

        “Seeing the way all your fans looked at you today made me realize that I couldn’t stand not having you any longer.”

        Hermann began kissing Newt’s neck. He ran his hand under Newt’s shirt and along his toned stomach. He thumbed at Newt’s waistband tantalizingly.

        “Don’t tease me,” Newt moaned.

        “You know that’s what I do best.”

        Newt laughed breathlessly and arched his back.

        “What do you want me to do to you?” Hermann purred.

        “You know what I want,” Newt replied thickly with desire, “You’ve been inside my head.”

        Hermann smirked, knowingly, and reached for

        -- “ _Oh mein Gott,_ ” Hermann hissed.

        He snapped the laptop closed, transporting himself back to reality.

        As in the text, he too was lying on a king-sized hotel bed, but instead of looking like the subject of a steamy romance novel he was wearing his oversized reading glasses and very unsexy flannel pajamas. The room was silent except for the hum of the heating unit and Newton’s snores.

        Hemann looked at his bed companion, drooling on the pillow beside him, covers kicked off and tee-shirt riding up exposing his soft tattooed belly. He would have resembled a small child if it weren’t for the beginnings of a beard he was now trying to grow out.

        He and Newt had been sharing beds for a long time now. One of the reasons being that it was cheaper for them to sleep together rather than on their own, now that they were globetrotting, talking about their experience fighting and winning the Kaiju war. The other reason was that they simply enjoyed each other’s company these days, more than ever, it seemed. They'd become slightly codependent in the past few years and now in this whirlwind of post-war publicity they'd become caught up in, they clung to each other for dear life.

        Hermann never thought much about how the time they spent together lately would be perceived, but suddenly he felt very self-conscious. He hadn’t really considered the implications of booking a single-bed room for two adult men. In hindsight, _of course_ the connotations were there. He wondered if this had become common knowledge somehow. Perhaps a nosy hotel worker had gossiped about it and word had spread and-- _oh god_.

        He looked at his computer in disgust, as if it were now tainted, and placed it hastily on the bedside table like it was a bomb that might explode. He removed his glasses with a sigh, and sank backwards into the cushy mattress, trying to remember how he’d gotten to this point.

        Earlier that day a group of their younger fans had met them at the airport to welcome the two war heroes. Some boisterous girls had made their way up to the front to tell them about a science blog they’d been working on. One handed Newt a slip of paper with the URL and asked the men if they’d look it over and give them some feedback.

        Unfortunately Newt, (being Newt), had lost the paper somehow over the course of the day. Hermann scolded him for it.

        “Now we’ll let down those nice children who look up to us,” he had growled.

        “Dude, relax. Just go to the site and search for ‘K-Science Fan’, or something, I’m sure you’ll find it,” Newt had said, waving his hand dismissively. “You don’t need URLs.”

        Hermann had done just that, once Newt had passed out early while watching his late night b-movie.

        ‘K-Science Fan’ had taken on... a whole other meaning on this website. At first there were mostly photos of them tagged ‘K-Science Bros’, which made Hermann smile. Until he scrolled down more. Many suggestive drawings appeared, _dear god_. He scrolled again. His gaze fell upon the words “K-Science Fan Fiction”, and a link to another website.

        One of Hermann’s flaws he hated most about himself was his morbid curiosity. He clicked. He read. _He could not unsee._

        It so happened that Hermann had been trying to shelter Newt from these things for a while. He first stumbled upon them while searching their names together, trying to find any articles on their many appearances so he could send them to his tech-illiterate relatives.

        One of the top image results was a racy drawing of them. Their likeness was captured so perfectly Hermann was compelled to stare at it for a few minutes, dumbstruck. He had seen a lot in his years, but nothing was quite as jarring as seeing he and his best friend in such a... compromising position.

        He shakily typed “Hermann Gottlieb Newt Geiszler drawing” into the search bar. His screen was overtaken by rows and rows of drawings of increasingly risqué subject matter by various artists. In one they were kissing on a desk. In another Newt wasn't wearing a shirt and his tattoos were drawn in complete detail. Oh in this one they were both mostly unclothed and---

        Hermann had exited out the tab like a kid whose parent just walked in. His stomach was in knots. That was lewd as lewd could be. He wondered if anyone else who knew them personally had ever seen such things. Oh god, how mortifying would that be for everyone involved. Thank heavens his mother got all her news from the paper.

        He suddenly felt extremely embarrassed, as though he had been caught doing those things himself. He felt even worse thinking about what Newt's reaction would be. They really looked like them, despite being stylized. It was impressive, but unnerving. As he took a deep breath he told himself Newt must never ever see this, even if it meant Hermann had to tackle him out of a computer chair.

        ---

        The next night the two stumbled back into their hotel room.

        “Godddd what a dayyyy,” Newt whined, throwing his jacket onto the bed and stretching, “Those fans would not let up, dude, we were surrounded.”

        “Yes,” Hermann replied distantly.

        He had been trying to seem as detached from Newt as possible while they were in the public eye today. Over-thinking every move and interaction, wondering how it could be misinterpreted. He also noticed himself feeling second-hand embarrassment over little things Newt did in front of others. Things that normally were inconsequential, rather than the normal 'there he goes again' behavior that Hermann had finally learned to tune out.

        “I usually love the attention, but man, I thought I was gonna go into overload. I could not escape them.”

        Hermann hung up his blazer wordlessly.

        “You OK, man?” Newt looked back at him. “You seemed kinda... off today.” Hermann shrugged avoidantly. “Are you hurting again?”

        Hermann shook his head rapidly. “No, no, I’m doing quite well in that sense.”

        “Well what is it, old boy? Speak up,” Newt prompted in his mock English accent.

        “Newton they’re... _writing things_ about us.”

        “In the news?”

        “No, no. On _other_ websites.”

        Newt tilted his head. “What... kinds of things?”

        “About you and I. Our relationship.”

        “Who is?” Newt asked, sitting on the bed to remove his shoes.

        “Our fans, I guess.”

        “Oh.” Newt stared at the ground thoughtfully. “Huh.”

        “Newton, they’re talking about us being _together_.”

        “Well we _are_ together," Newt retorted defensively. " _Basically_.”

        “I mean... it’s more..." Hermann swallowed loudly, " _Extreme_ than that.”

        “So people think we’re a secret item. It happens to everyone who just breathes on each other.”

        “No, no, not like that it’s... less speculating, more of... _fantasizing_.” Hermann's ears turned pink.

        “Wait... what are you saying?” Newt squinted.

        “They’re drawing things. Writing things. _Fan fiction,_ ” he said the word like it was an obscenity.

        Newt’s eyes widened. “Like _slash fic_??”

        Hermann cringed and nodded.

        “Oh man really? Smut about _us_?”

        Herman bit his lip. Newt laughed, to his roommate’s astonishment.

        “Is it _hot_?” Newt asked with a grin, “Is it any good?”

        Hermann’s stared back with confusion. “Newton, I thought you’d be more... _scandalized_.”

        “Its _hilarious,_ ” Newt squeaked, “Oh my god, Herm, it means _we_ ’ _ve made it_!”

        Hermann frowned and sat next to Newt on the bed. “I don’t like it,” he said quietly.

        Newt’s enthusiasm fell. “Aw man, I’m sorry. I guess it’s pretty effed up to do that to a married ma--”

        “I don’t like them sexualizing you,” he clarified.

        Newt mouth was agape. “ _Oh_...”

        “I don’t like them thinking about things being done to you that I know cross all of your boundaries.” Hermann’s face was tense, and he looked upset. “And then putting it out there for all to see.”

        “Herm.”

        “And I feel even worse that I’m the one doing it in them,” he choked.

        “But that’d never happen in real life, man.”

        “Sometimes I feel like hiding what we are just makes them think we’re something we aren’t. That this, what we have, is something... _carnal_.” He whispered the last word as though someone might hear.

        “Hun.” Newt rubbed Hermann’s shoulder, as if he was not sure what to say.

        “I want to tell them about us. What we are.”

        Newt grimaced. “They won’t understand. Then we’ll just be labeled 'gays in denial'.” Hermann sighed and hung his head. “Besides, it’s none of their business what we do or don’t do in bed.” He pulled Hermann closer. “Are you happy? Do you like being with me?” Newt asked softly.

        “Yes, ridiculously so.”

        “Do you wish I was...?” Newt raised an eyebrow inquisitively

        “ _Of course not,_ ” Hermann reassured, knowing Newt often felt insecure about whether his partner wanted more than he could give.

        “Then don’t worry about what teenage girls are writing about us on the internet.”

        “If they _are_ teenage girls they have remarkably good prose and filthy mouths,” Hermann muttered, wrinkling his brow.

        “We’re hot.” Newt smirked. “It’s our own fault for making such a good looking couple.” Hermann began to smile. “So tell me, baby,” Newt said seductively, “What don't you want me to do to you tonight?”

        Hermann laughed genuinely and pushed Newt away playfully.

        “I’ll tell you what I _do_ want,” Hermann started, “I want to take off these fancy clothes, and rent a movie, and lie with you on this superfluously soft bed.”

        “Can we order room service?” Newt asked excitedly.

        “Of course.” Hermann shrugged.

        “Can we cuddle?” Newt asked coyly.

        “That was implied.”

        “You know... I did kind of know that stuff was floating around out there,” Newt admitted.

        “Did you?” Hermann was taken aback.

        “I Google myself all the time, dude. I’m a narcissist, remember?” Herman chuckled. “I’ve seen the fan art pop up. I just don’t really look at it, because sex skeeves me out in general. But honestly I never brought it up because I was trying to shelter _you_.”

        “Newton that’s... kind of sweet.”

        “I’m sweet on you, that’s why,” he cooed back.

        “Pshhh.” Hermann rolled his eyes.

        Newt grinned and began removing his dress shirt so he could change into a comfy tee to lounge in.

        “By the way...” Hermann said, unbuttoning his own. “The most hilarious part is they keep drawing you with abs...”

        “ _Shut up_ , Hermann.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I hope no one thinks this is a criticism of fanworks in general, quite the opposite. I actually saw one of those "Imagine your OTP" posts about character A finding fanart of them and character B and trying to hide it from them, and I thought 'Wow that could totally happen in the PR verse considering they'd be famous after the war'. So I hammered this thing out in one sitting (and two bluescreens for some reason). I've never read smut, (being that sort of ace), so I'm not sure how the 'slash fic' part of it compares, but I was laughing the entire time I wrote it.
> 
> I also tell people that fanfic is my new dirty hobby and I was kind of tickled by thinking about Hermann being repulsed by the entire concept. (The title basically means "secondhand-embarrassment".)
> 
> So yeah, this probably takes place in the same universe as Lay Down Your Armor, but honestly you can interpret their relationship as platonic OR romantic in this, I left it ambiguous.


End file.
